Thread brake

ABSTRACT

According to the invention, the brake force on a thread brake with a vertically arranged cylindrical housing, comprising a base inlet opening and an upper outlet opening for a thread may be adjusted in a modular manner, whereby each ball is provided with an individual housing piece and the housing pieces are arranged one over the other. The housing pieces have a modular embodiment which may be stacked one over the other in an indexed manner, whereby the inlet opening of the upper housing piece forms the outlet opening of the housing piece below.

This application claims priority of PCT application PCT/CH2006/000115 having a priority date of Mar. 31, 2005.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a thread brake having a housing, a lower inlet opening on the inner side of the housing being assigned a spherical seat and a plurality of balls being arranged in the housing.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In modern high performance textile machines, the problem of exact thread braking is gaining ever greater significance because the thread speeds are becoming higher, the threads are becoming ever thinner and the assemblies for processing the threads are becoming ever more complicated. Here, in particular, a great problem is represented by the contamination of the thread brakes as a result of abrasion of the thread material and the sizes which are present on the threads.

A thread brake of the type which is mentioned in the introduction is known from EP 0 329 067 B1, with which satisfactory results have already been achieved. Said thread brake has a cylindrical housing which stands upright and has a lower inlet opening and an upper outlet opening for a thread, the lower inlet opening on the inner side of the housing being assigned a spherical seat. One or more balls are arranged in the housing for setting the brake force. However, it is disadvantageous that an exactly defined brake force cannot be achieved as a result of the multiple arrangement of balls, as the action surface changes continuously as a result of the movements of the balls, the brake force additionally being changed by the contamination which is produced.

CH 464 747 A discloses a thread brake, in which a multiplicity of balls are arranged above one another in the manner of a cascade in a cylindrical housing which stands upright and has a lower inlet opening and an upper outlet opening for a thread. Here, the lower inlet opening on the inner side of each cascade is assigned in each case one spherical seat. A modular arrangement is not provided in CH-A-464 747. A similar thread brake of cascade-like configuration is known from DE 25 11 162 A and from DE-81 15 620 U.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to improve a thread brake of the type which is mentioned in the introduction.

As a result of the fact that each ball is assigned a dedicated housing part which can be plugged, the definition of the brake force is improved per ball, spherical seat and housing part, the influence of contamination being reduced. Each spherical seat having the associated ball in a dedicated housing part results in a brake force which can be defined accurately and can be set accurately by an increase in the number of housing parts and therefore of the associated balls and spherical seats. The advantages of the present invention come to bear, in particular, as a result of the fact that the housing parts are configured in a modular manner and such that they can be plugged above one another in the manner of a register, the inlet opening of the upper housing forming the outlet opening of the housing which lies underneath it.

It is particularly advantageous if, the top housing part has a cover which contains the outlet opening having an inlet funnel. This cover is then particularly advantageous if the outlet opening likewise has an outlet funnel.

It is advantageous if, the inlet opening has an inlet funnel, the external diameter of which corresponds approximately to the internal diameter of the housing. As a result, not only is the entry of the thread into the housing improved, but, in particular, the insertion of the thread into the housing by means of a lance is also made easier.

The configuration of the thread brake is advantageous, at least the walls of the openings being composed of porcelain or ceramic and therefore having great resistance to wear. Optionally, the entire housing can be formed from porcelain or ceramic.

As only one ball is arranged per spherical seat and housing part, the thread brake is self-cleaning, in particular if the inlet openings and the outlet openings are of a corresponding size and make the discharge of the abrasion easier.

At least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following text, exemplary embodiments of the thread brake will be described in greater detail using the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a thread brake on a creel, in a side view; and

FIG. 2 shows the thread brake of FIG. 1, in a vertical section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows the arrangement of a thread brake 2 on a creel 4. For this purpose, the thread brake 2 is held on a clamping clip 6 which is connected via a connecting rod 8 to a run-through tube 10. The latter is arranged on a frame 12 of the creel 4 and carries a bobbin 14. A thread 16 is pulled off from the bobbin 14 and guided through the run-through tube 10 to the thread brake 2.

The thread brake 2 has a housing 18 which comprises individual cylindrical housing parts 18 a, 18 b, 18 c which stand upright and in which in each case one ball 20 a, 20 b, 20 c is arranged. The housing parts 18 a, 18 b, 18 c are of modular configuration, are plugged together above one another in the manner of a register and comprise in each case one lower inlet opening 22 having an inlet funnel 24. On the inner side of the housing parts 18 a, 18 b, 18 c, the inlet openings 22 are assigned in each case one spherical seat 26, with the result that the thread 16 runs between the spherical seat 26 and the ball 20 a. Each housing part has an outlet opening 28 which is modified by the inlet opening 22 of the housing part which is arranged above it. The top housing part 18 c is provided with a cover 30 which has an outlet opening 32 for discharging the thread 16. The outlet opening 32 of the cover is also equipped with an inlet funnel 34 and, in the exemplary embodiment, also with an outlet funnel 38. The inlet funnels 24 are dimensioned in the exemplary embodiment in such a way that the greatest diameter corresponds approximately to the internal diameter of the housing, in order to make as smooth as possible a transition from the inner side of the housing to the inlet funnel possible. In the exemplary embodiment, the walls of the openings 22, 28 and 32 and of the inlet and outlet funnels 24, 34 and 38 are composed of porcelain or ceramic.

In order to insert the thread 16 into the thread brake, a lance is used as a rule, the thread start being arranged on the tip of said lance and the latter being guided through the thread brake from below via the inlet funnel 24. Here, the inlet funnels 24 make the insertion of the lance easier not only in the bottom housing 18 a, but also, in particular, during the transition into the housing part 18 b and 18 c which lies in each case above and finally when the thread is guided out through the top outlet opening 32 on the cover 30.

The size of the balls on one side and the opening of the inlet openings 32 are dimensioned in such a way that not only is the thread subjected to defined braking, but accumulating abrasion during running through of the thread can be disposed of downward through the openings by raising of the balls, as is indicated by the abrasion accumulation 40 in FIG. 2.

Each of the housing parts having the associated ball provides an accurately defined brake force which can be multiplied accordingly by multiple provision of the housing parts having in each case one ball. The magnitude of the brake force of the individual housing parts can be changed further by the selection of a corresponding ball size.

In the thread brake of the exemplary embodiment, the bottom housing part 18 a has fastening means 6 for connection to a carrier 8.

LIST OF DESIGNATIONS

-   2 Thread brake -   4 Creel -   6 Clamping clip -   8 Connecting rod -   10 Run-through tube -   12 Frame -   14 Bobbin -   16 Thread -   18 Housing -   18 a Housing part -   18 b Housing part -   18 c Housing part -   20 a Ball -   20 b Ball -   20 c Ball -   22 Inlet opening -   24 Inlet funnel -   26 Spherical seat -   28 Outlet opening -   30 Cover -   32 Outlet opening of the cover -   34 Inlet funnel of the cover -   38 Outlet funnel of the cover -   40 Abrasion accumulation 

1. A thread brake, having a cylindrical housing which stands upright, comprises individual, upright cylindrical housing parts, in which in each case one ball is arranged, and which cylindrical housing has a lower inlet opening and an upper outlet opening for a thread, the lower inlet opening on the inner side of the housing being assigned a spherical seat and at least two balls being arranged in the housing, each ball being assigned a dedicated spherical seat and a dedicated housing part, and the housing parts being configured such that they can be plugged above one another in the manner of a register, the inlet opening of the upper housing part forming in each case the outlet opening of the housing part which lies underneath it.
 2. The thread brake as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the top housing part has a cover which has an outlet opening having an inlet funnel.
 3. The thread brake as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the outlet opening of the cover has an outlet funnel.
 4. The thread brake as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that each of the inlet openings has an inlet funnel, the external diameter of which corresponds approximately to the internal diameter of the housing parts.
 5. The thread brake as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least the walls of the openings are composed of porcelain or ceramic.
 6. The thread brake as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that it is of self-cleaning configuration.
 7. The thread brake as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.
 8. The thread brake as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that each of the inlet openings has an inlet funnel, the external diameter of which corresponds approximately to the internal diameter of the housing parts.
 9. The thread brake as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that each of the inlet openings has an inlet funnel, the external diameter of which corresponds approximately to the internal diameter of the housing parts.
 10. The thread brake as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that at least the walls of the openings are composed of porcelain or ceramic.
 11. The thread brake as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that at least the walls of the openings are composed of porcelain or ceramic.
 12. The thread brake as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that at least the walls of the openings are composed of porcelain or ceramic.
 13. The thread brake as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that it is of self-cleaning configuration.
 14. The thread brake as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that it is of self-cleaning configuration.
 15. The thread brake as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that it is of self-cleaning configuration.
 16. The thread brake as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that it is of self-cleaning configuration.
 17. The thread brake as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.
 18. The thread brake as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.
 19. The thread brake as claimed in claim 4, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.
 20. The thread brake as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier.
 21. The thread brake as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that at least the bottom housing part has fastening means for connection to a carrier. 